


Wasted Opportunity

by cohevans



Category: Glee
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:34:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27681539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cohevans/pseuds/cohevans
Summary: Everybody else is either married, submerged in their career or enjoying life as it is. But Sam's sat in Lima, knowing that he still hasn't found his happy ending.Well, that's before someone dramatically stumbles back into his life.
Relationships: Tina Cohen-Chang/Sam Evans
Kudos: 4





	Wasted Opportunity

**Author's Note:**

> This story is set in the '5 years later' scenario, but instead of ending up with Artie, Tina moves back to Lima after that doesn't work out. Finn is still alive in this story (mainly because it feels so empty without him included) and Puck is openly bi. Also a bit of Fuinn because they deserved so much better.

_'BOOM!'_

That was how Tina described her rekindled relationship with Artie. It lit itself on fire and threw itself down the stairs. At first it was good. A nice break from things, and because they knew each other so well, she hoped that they would last. Artie and Kitty broke up, so he was single too and it just- it seemed like the right time to think about marriage and planning the rest of their lives.

_Married by 30_ , she said; _married by 30, my ass_! Total flop. She hadn't even felt sad when she caught Artie texting other girls. As embarrassing as it was, Tina realized that she didn't feel as much as she used to feel for him. Not romantically anyway. It was all platonic intimacy. Usually she'd have spend a good week crying about it, but she didn't. Instead it felt like a sign from God saying _leave._

They just weren't meant to be. End of.

So she packed up her things, withdrew her savings and pulled that money she had in their joint account and 'hitched a ride' back to Ohio. Tina had no doubt that Kitty would be there for Artie. He didn't need her. All she'd left was a note and stuff in the fridge.

_Gas is so freakin' expensive._ Tina mentally complained, stopping at the gas station as she had reached Lima. The drive from Cincinnati was interesting to say the least, but nevertheless, she enjoyed it the trip around. Quinn and Finn lived there, so she always had time to go pop in for a moment. Not quite New York but a city that they both love passionately. They weren't together _together_ but Finn promised to be with her, and she did to him, after Quinn got pregnant.. but that's not a story for right now.

As she was filling up her gas tank, Tina accidentally dropped her wallet. She groaned unhappily. Once her tank was full, the former goth put it back and picked up her things off the floor.

Amongst the pile, she found an old picture that had to be from about three years ago.

A small smile formed upon her face. It was a picture of her and Sam at another one of those 'geek conventions' (as Santana called it) that froze her thoughts. They were dressed in matching outfits, she was on his back and they had the brightest smiles on their faces.

_I miss Sam,_ Tina mused. It'd been too long since she last saw him. Even though it was about a couple of months ago after Rachel won a Tony award, and he'd yet again teased her for her failure to find love, but.. she couldn't hate him. It's not like it was going well for him either! He had a new girlfriend every other weekend. _Jerk._

She shoved everything into her handbag and threw it back into the car, scurrying to pay before that assistant began pestering her. _What a bitch, she doesn't deserve my service as a loyal costumer._ Tina could've sworn she saw boys in football jerseys messing around in the drinks isle, and some kid in a blazer telling them to stop.

_The joys of being a teenager._

* * *

By the time she arrived at her parents' house, Tina was surprised to find a dog running around the living room. She recognized this dog to be the one and only McConaughey. The animal jumped up at her, wagging his tail enthusiastically. Tina had no idea that her mom had actually adopted the dog. All she knew was that Mercedes couldn't keep it and was looking for a new owner.

Was Sam's dog.. her dog? Interesting. Tina sat down on the couch, letting the dog rest his head on her lap as she began watching The Bachelor. Her parents were out, so clearly they'd left him there for a surprise.

"You're so cute!" Tina smiled, gently stroking the dog's fur coat. "Sammy was a lucky dog owner, wasn't he?"

The dog gave a playful bark as what she assumed was a response.

He was so chill. Much better than Artie's dog. That thing barked too much, ruined the carpets and annoyed the hell out of her. She liked McConaughey. Because she felt bad about Sam having to give up his dog (five years later wasn't too much time in-between..) she made sure to mention him in the caption on her newest Instagram post with her and McConaughey.

' _Hey guys! Say hi to McConaughey Cohen-Evans. He owns my social media now because he's so darn cute! @troutymouthevans'_

The first person, somehow, to see her post was none other than Evans himself. He'd been scrolling through his boring feed until he got the notification that he'd been tagged in a post by _@misstcohen_ that caught his attention.

His heart burst into flames as soon as he saw what included in the post. Sam scrambled to get up from his bed, and comment on that post featuring his cute buddy that he thought he'd never see again. Only then did he realized the location at the top of the post.

Lost for words. _Lima, OH._

Tina hadn't missed the first comment on her post, a smile radiating her tired face.

_@troutymouthevans: Looking adorable as hell! Both of u._

"Look at that McConaughey! Sammy sees you too!" Tina cooed, snuggling the dog cutely.

Sam knew he would have to text her. Just have to. Everybody else from glee club was all doing their own thing elsewhere with barely any time to hang out.. so maybe he could give it another try with Tina? 

Sure, they'd temporarily dated for a few months at the end of their senior year but it never did feel like the end. Every time he saw her, there was always something inside him that lit up. That same feeling he'd had since the day they met during their sophomore year.

Tina obviously thought about him, otherwise she wouldn't have kept the name McConaughey, or deem him Cohen-Evans instead of her own full last name.

All it took was one call.

He debated reaching for the phone, eyes scanning over the Captain America scarf she'd made him many a Christmas ago. Yeah. There's no reason for them not to reconnect. She was in Lima, he was there too.. it was a missed opportunity.


End file.
